¡¡¡¡JERUSALEM, Oct. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Israel will keep on building a security fence in the West Bank despite a UN resolution condemning its construction, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday.

¡¡¡¡"The fence will continue being built and we will go on taking care of the security of Israel's citizens," Olmert told Israel Radio on Wednesday morning.

¡¡¡¡The UN General Assembly approved late Tuesday a resolution demanding that Israel halt its construction of a barrier cutting the Jewish state off from the Palestinian West Bank lands.

¡¡¡¡The resolution was passed in a vote of 144 to 4 with 12 abstentions. The United States and Israel were among the four countries that voted against it.

¡¡¡¡Addressing the opening ceremony of the winter session of the Israeli parliament on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed that Israel would accelerate its construction and promised to complete it within a year.

¡¡¡¡"This fence is the best way of foiling terrorism," Sharon told the Israeli lawmakers.

¡¡¡¡Israel decided to build the 360 km security fence along its border with the West Bank last June and the first phase of the project was completed several months ago.

¡¡¡¡Because a large part of the fence will be located deep into the Palestinian land, the plan has caused many criticism among the world.

¡¡¡¡Israel insists that it is building the barrier to keep Palestinian militants from crossing into its territory to carry outsuicide bombings, but the Palestinians argue that building a separation wall deep into the West Bank territory would constitute a land grab aimed at heading off any possibility of an eventual Palestinian state. Enditem